Palestinian Activist Amer Jubran Released on Bond - Hearing Set for February 20, 2003 Peoples Movement Wins Release from Illegal Detention

Thursday, November 21, 2002

After 17 days of illegal detention at ACI Cranston in Rhode Island, a federal immigration judge ordered Amer Jubran be freed on bond this afternoon. Judge Shapiro said there were no grounds for the illegal detention of Jubran, a leader in the Palestinian and anti-war movement.

In releasing Jubran on bond, the judge acknowledged the dozens of letters he had received from Jubran's supporters attesting to his character and community involvement fighting for justice for all. Jubran supporters packed the courtroom and the entire lobby and corridor outside.

But the INS's effort to deport Jubran on baseless allegations of INS technicalities continues. The judge set the next hearing date in the case for February 20, 2003. Supporters must continue to send letters to the INS and the judge demanding the baseless charges be dropped. (see address below)

Immediately following the hearing, Jubran's supporters - including the Amer Jubran Defense Committee, the New England Committee to Defend Palestine, and the A.N.S.W.E.R. coalition, and others - held a spirited picket line outside the building, demanding freedom for Palestine and that the frame-up against Jubran end immediately.

Supporters see the hand of homeland security behind the illegal detention and proceedings against Jubran. On November 4, INS and FBI agents illegally raided his home. He was told he would be home by noon if he cooperated with the FBI, or else he would "rot for 50 years". The INS told his lawyer it was their intention to detain him indefinitely, but gave no justification or grounds for doing so.

A strong peoples movement immediately went into action, sending letters, holding pickets at the INS, and protesting this illegal frame-up. The INS is attempting to use a smokescreen of baseless allegations of INS technicalities to try to deny Jubran his right to stay in the country. But the real issue is his refusal to cooperate with the FBI in attacking the anti-war movement and his outspoken activism in defense of the rights of the Palestinian nation. Just 2 days before the raid on his home and Jubran's arrest, he had led a march through the streets of Boston past the Israeli consulate in defense of Palestinian rights. The march was sponsored by the New England Committee to Defend Palestine, which Jubran co-founded. His detention was an attempt to chill and intimidate the growing anti-war movement and movement in defense of Palestine.

This is not the first time the state has tried to silence Amer Jubran. In June 2001, Jubran was targeted by Brookline police and arrested for leading a demonstration against the Zionist Israeli Day "celebration." A defense committee was quickly formed out of the offices of the International Action Center, and after many months of struggle, he finally won justice. Racist profiling and illegal prosecution is not new for this long-time activist for Palestinian liberation.

Jubran has worked with the A.N.S.W.E.R. coalition on numerous protests against the brutal and genocidal Israeli occupation of Palestine, including a march of 2500 on April 6, 2002 in Boston from Government Center to the Israeli consulate protesting Israeli massacres and war crimes that intensified in March; frequent pickets in front of the Israeli consulate; and a march on June 9, 2002 organized by the New England Committee to Defend Palestine of International A.N.S.W.E.R., to again protest the Zionist Israeli Independence Day festival, this time held on the Boston Common. He has paraticipated and spoken at national A.N.S.W.E.R. demonstrations against the Bush administration's wars, including the April 20,2002 march of over 100,000 in Washington DC in defense of Palestinian rights and the Intifada.

Today's partial victory was an example that Jubran's release was forced by the struggle in the streets. It should be known that there are countless, nameless others being illegally detained on racist, frame-up charges who, without the benefit of organized defense committees, are languishing in prisons across the U.S. Working to free Jubran is also working to free others like him, and that work must be stepped up.

It should also be noted that this attack on Amer Jubran is part of the broader attack on the anti-war movement as a whole. The Bush administration has made it clear, through the Homeland Security Act, that its top priority is to stop the anti-war movement with a 3-prong strategy: incarceration, intimidation and disinformation. The people must resist! As a united movement, we can win Amer Jubran's unconditional freedom! In solidarity, we can free all illegal detainees, free all political prisoners and end imperialist war.

Supporters should continue to write to USINS District Director Steven J Farquharson, Room 1700, JFK Federal Building, Boston, Ma 02203, with a copy to USINS Commissioner James W. Ziglar, Immigration and Naturalization Service, 425 I Street, NW, Washington, D.C., and to the Amer Jubran Defense Committee, P.O. Box 755, Jamaica Plain, MA. 02130 to demand that the charges be dropped immediately.

To sign an online email letter to the INS District Director and for updated information on how you can support the case, go to http://www.iacboston.org/amerjubran

Further information is also available at http://www.amerjubrandefense.org and http://www.onepalestine.org

BOSTON: ALL OUT FOR AMER JUBRAN'S INS BOND HEARING : TOMORROW, THURSDAY NOVEMBER 21, 8 AM/ MEET AT GOVERNMENT CENTER T STOP / PACK THE COURT PICKET AFTERWARD

Palestinian activist Amer Jubran has been held illegally in INS detention since the INS and FBI raided his home on November 4, over 2 weeks ago. The baseless alleged INS "technicality" is merely a smokescreen for a politically motivated attack on Jubran designed to silence his efforts in defense of Palestinian self-determination for social justice and against war. 2 days before his arrest he had led a demonstration of the New England Committee to Defend Palestine through the streets of Boston. The prior weekend he was at the 200,000 strong March on Washington to Stop the War on Iraq led by the A.N.S.W.E.R. coalition. He has been visible and vocal at repeated marches and demonstrations in front of the Israeli consulate with ANSWER. His detention represents an attack on all activists and fits Bush and Aschcroft's pattern of attempting to criminalize dissent. Jubran's detention is another example of the national racist anti-Arab profiling which has resulted in thousands of Arabs illegally detained. We demand an immediate end to the sweeps and illegal detentions of Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims and attacks on activists. Defending the Palestinian People and opposing war is not a crime!

FREE AMER JUBRAN IMMEDIATELY!

For more information, to sign an online letter to the INS and to download a petition for Amer's release, go to http://www.iacboston.org/amerjubran

More information is also available at www.amerjubrandefense.org

THE FOLLOWING IS THE BULLETIN ABOUT TOMORROW'S COURT APPEARANCE FROM THE AMER JUBRAN DEFENSE COMMITTEE:

For those of you on the East Coast: URGENT

Bond hearing for Amer Jubran,
Thursday, November 21st
JFK Federal Building, Boston

Assemble tomorrow at 8:00AM, directly outside the Government Center T stop entrance.

Once enough supporters have gathered there, we'll brief everybody on Amer's situation and then start channeling people into the courtroom. We are planning for an informational picket after the hearing takes place, but our primary goal is to fill Judge Shapiro's court with people unwilling to tolerate anything less than Amer's immediate release from INS detention. Please do not be late; it will take some time to get everyone into the building, and it's vital that the courtroom be full when the proceedings begin.

The support which Amer has received worldwide was instrumental in securing his bond hearing, which the INS originally refused to grant him, and we think that a strong show of support at the courtroom will be an important component in securing his release. It's important to remember,though, that Amer has already spent over two weeks in INS detention, and not one second of that detention was legal, even according to the INS's own rules. Amer, already familiar with governmental abuse of activists from his time in Palestine, has kept his papers in perfect order since he moved to this country, but even the technical violation which the INS alleges he committed would not provide for his detention, since he is a lawful, permanent resident of the United States and has no criminal record.

The will of the INS, as expressed by INS agent Mike Clifford, is to detain Amer indefinitely without having to give reasons. Our will is that Amer be released immediately so that he can continue his articulate and courageous activism on behalf of the Palestinian people, which is the only reason he was put in jail in the first place.

The Amer Jubran Defense Committee
P. O. Box 755,
Jamaica Plain, MA, 02130
www.amerjubrandefense.org  

 

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